Heisman Trophy: Cam Newton wins, integrity loses

Mel Kiper Jr. was on ESPN the other day and said anybody who left Cam Newton off of their Heisman Trophy ballot for integrity issues should be stripped of their vote.

Isn’t there something sick and sad, paradoxical and perverse about big-time sports when a national media figure vilifies voters who have chosen not to ignore the Heisman Trophy’s own mission statement regarding integrity? Then again, what do we expect from Kiper, a man who once predicted Jarmarcus Russell would become one of the “elite quarterbacks” in the NFL.

Two questions for Mr. Kiper in the wake of Newton’s disturbingly decisive Heisman Trophy landslide Saturday night: When did it become wrong to vote for what you think is right? And when did just winning become more important than winning with integrity?

As I’ve stated in this space before, the very first sentence of the Heisman’s mission statement doesn’t just say the Trophy should go to the best player; it says it is to go to the most outstanding player “whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity.”

The word “integrity” isn’t included in the last sentence of the Heisman’s mission statement; it’s included in the first sentence. And that must mean Heisman organizers think it’s pretty darn important. Sadly, Kiper and his army of jock-sniffing sycophants think integrity is just a word to be brushed aside and ignored.

I was on ESPN’s SportsCenter on Saturday debating national radio host Paul Finebaum about whether Newton deserved the Heisman. When I pointed out the Heisman’s integrity clause to Finebaum, he scoffed and said it means “nothing.”

And so, ladies and gentlemen, this is where we are in sports today. Integrity = nothing.

Finebaum and Kiper are simply symptoms of what is wrong with sports today. From the time star athletes are in Pop Warner until they reach the NFL, coaches, teachers, fans, media, the judicial system, even their parents are all too willing to disregard character flaws and integrity breaches.

Because Newton is such a spectacular player, most of the 886 Heisman voters were willing to overlook his past transgressions and even ignore the Heisman’s own integrity guidelines to put him up on a pedestal and present him with the most prestigious individual award in all of sports.

And then, pathetically, Kiper has the audacity to denigrate those 105 of us who didn’t vote for him. Obviously, he seems to think that because Newton is eligible by NCAA rules that we were obligated to put him on our ballot. Horsefeathers! Just because Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds are eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame, doesn’t mean you should vote for them.

I’m curious about something, Mr. Kiper: When did it become a heinous act to actually pay attention to the Heisman’s integrity clause? When did it become so awful to not cast a vote for Newton, who might be the first Heisman winner in history to record a lack-of-integrity hat trick (legal issues, academic issues, NCAA issues) in his college career.

It’s no wonder we have situations like the one that developed at Cocoa High School this week, where Coach John Wilkinson did not allow his best player — Chevelle Buie — to play in the state championship game at the Citrus Bowl on Saturday night. Buie had been suspended from school, but returned this week and could have played in the Class 2A championship game against powerhouse Glades Central. Wilkinson, though, put his star player on the bench because he had violated team rules and regulations.

What a lesson. What a message.

Except the player’s mother, Denise Hubbard, told Florida Today newspaper she intended to start a petition and organize a protest rally to get the coach to change his mind. The local NAACP even got involved.

“He made a mistake, but what 18-year-old doesn’t make mistakes,” Hubbard said of her son. “And I don’t feel he should be punished so severely.”

The coach who does the right thing instead of the easy thing gets criticized.

The voters who cast ballots for the “pursuit of excellence with integrity” get chastised.

When I recited the Heisman’s integrity clause to Finebaum on Saturday morning, he smugly replied, “I hate to quote Macbeth so early in the morning, but that’s a bunch of sound and fury signifying nothing.”

Macbeth, appropriately, is one of Shakespeare’s most corrupt and arrogant figures.

It seems the depressing words from Shakespeare’s more noble Othello ring truer today than ever.

“Take note, take note, O world,

To be direct and honest is not safe.”

Read Mike Bianchi’s blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/openmike and listen to his radio show every weekday from 6 to 9 a.m. on 740-AM. You can e-mail him at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com.